“Birth of a Family”Watch the moving film “Birth of a Family” at a free public screening Thursday in the SoCA Armouries.

Film documents reunion of family divided by government policy

Three sisters and a brother, adopted as infants into separate families across North America, meet for the first time in the moving documentary “Birth of a Family.”

The film will be screened Thursday, March 22, at the SoCA Armouries as part of the National Film Board of Canada’s Aabiziingwashi Wide Awake film series, presented locally by the Arts Council Windsor and Region, University of Windsor, Aboriginal Education Centre, and Media City.

Removed from their young Dene mother’s care as part of Canada’s infamous “Sixties Scoop,” Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie and Ben were four of the 20,000 Indigenous children taken from their families between 1955 and 1985, to be either adopted into white families or to live in foster care.

In the documentary directed by Tasha Hubbard, the four siblings piece together their shared history and as their connection deepens, bringing laughter with it, their family begins to take shape.

Julie Tucker, the arts council’s director of public programs and advocacy, says “Birth of a Family” is a perfect choice as the final screening in the series.

“We have the opportunity to witness the power of resiliency through this film,” she says. “There are similar situations where families torn apart, have not been able to come back together because of government initiatives like the sixties scoop. This film is a wonderful end to our series and gives hope to a future moving forward that we can overcome anything.”

Thursday’s screening is free and open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m. in the SoCA Armouries Performance Hall, located at 37 University Avenue East. Learn more on the Facebook event page.